After a 10-day break, Post University basketball returns to action in a men's and women's doubleheader this afternoon at the Drubner Center in Waterbury. The women will take on New York Institute of Technology at noon, while the men will face American International College at 3.

The Post women (6-5, 5-1) come into today riding a two-game losing skid, most recently a 68-66 loss to Felician College, yet are currently in first place in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division.

Junior captain Aubrey Latham has led the charge for the Eagles averaging 16.4 points per contest, while guard Fernanda Mansilla has been giving her teammates good scoring chances, averaging 6.3 assists per game.

First-year coach Stephen Schuler complimented his players after the break, saying, "the players came back well-conditioned and focused."

All losses the Eagles have had this season have come by a single-digit margin, except for one early season, nonconference loss to Queens College.

"We can all get better, coaching staff included," said Schuler. "We have a tough game coming up, but we'll put our players in a position to succeed."

Schuler's team will face an undefeated NYIT squad, arguably their toughest opponent to date. NYIT's closest margin of victory all year was an eight-point victory, the rest coming in blow-out fashion.

Charlene Riddick, a Torrington resident, is a starter for NYIT, averaging 11.4 points per game. Riddick attended Chase Collegiate, and then played basketball for three seasons at St. Peter's College.

She coached the Chase girls basketball team for one season before transferring to NYIT for her last year of eligibility.

"They have a lot of people who can do a lot of things," said Schuler. "They're a very good team. I like the challenge and we'll be ready."

The Post men's team is currently enjoying the best start for the program in years, earning a 9-3 overall record (5-1 conference record) in the first part of the season.

The latest win for the Eagles was a convincing 94-70 romp over Felician, with junior guard Zach Krischer leading the explosive offensive display with 21 points.

Coach Al Sokaitis credited his bench for its effort against Felician.

"They gave us a big boost," said Sokaitis. "That's what we want to see going into arguably the toughest stretch of our season in these next three games."

The next three games for the Eagles are against American International, Bloomfield College and Philadelphia University.

AIC played tough against UConn in Storrs early this year, and Bloomfield and Philadelphia are in the upper half of the CACC standings.

"We want to play a certain way regardless of the opponent and their record," said the Post coach. "We want to establish Post basketball as a certain type of play every time."

Junior forward Jerry Cummings has led Post in scoring this season, averaging 15.1 per game. "Jerry has been outstanding all year for us. He's a steady day-in, day-out player," said Sokaitis.

Sarunas Jackson, leading shot blocker for Post, credits Jake Wilcox for holding down the defensive side of the ball. "The anchor of the defense is Jake Wilcox. He plays with a lot of heart and effort," said Jackson.

Today's game for Post is against AIC (4-5, 2-4), who played UConn tough in the Huskies' opening preseason game, losing by 15.

"They're really good and really hard to figure out," said Sokaitis. "We need to make sure they don't get second shots and make sure we show patience on the offensive end."

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